eQuilter Blog

This one’s for all of you diehard Midweek Creative Nudge email readers. Sometimes when I am chatting with quilter friends, I say ‘hey did you see my newsletter last Wednesday’ and they say…..’huh?’

But I know that many more of you DO read my Wednesday morning missives, so here is a little gift….a preview of what will be introduced in the Saturday new product e-newsletter.

We just got a giant shipment of the entire Tim Holtz Palette collections, and I am sure part of it will sell out fast. So jump on it NOW to pick out your favorites!

As a kid, I think I had April Fools Day trauma. So I am not going to freak you out with a prank, but I will tell you something very true:

For many years I had an annual VIP tour of NASA in Houston, because of our close relationship with the NASA chapter of Engineers Without Borders. On the 2015 tour, my guide was astronaut-in-training Victor Glover. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because he is set to PILOT the historic Artemis II mission to the moon. He will become the first black person to fly to the moon.

The mission is set to last 10 days as the crew flies by the moon. It will be the first US lunar flyby with a crew onboard, since the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972.

Godspeed, Victor…and the Artemis II crew. We’ll be watching.

Sharing your passion for fabric…
Luana & Paul

Subscribe to my artist website and blog!
www.luanarubin.com

Travel/Lecture Dates:
Apr 26 – May 1 – Alegre Retreat, Gateway CO
May 16 – New England Quilt Museum, Soul Stories Artist Reception
May 18-26 – Montpellier, France
June 5 – Featured Speaker – World Environment Day – Houston
July 28 – Aug 2 – Festival of Quilts – Birmingham UK
Nov 12-15 – Intl Quilt Festival – Houston

Visit eQuilter’s Instagram, Pinterest or TikTok pages for Color and Design ideas.

See Luana’s Flickr Photo Pages for travel images, comment on our blog, or follow us on Facebook.

Check out our Video pages for interviews and show reviews.

Hey fellow Shakespeare fans!
Paul has developed 2 new Shakespeare-themed fabrics that are a must-have collectible for Bard buffs.

Our brand new Steampunk Shakespeare and Shakespeare Pages are just the thing (besides the play) for your next literary sewing project. If you attend outdoor Shakespeare festivals in the summer (like we have here in Boulder) then perhaps a cushion for the outdoor seating, or a quilted picnic blanket for seating on the lawn, would make a great project to start now. (Check out our large selection of book/literature prints as coordinates.) I just wish I had these designs years ago when I was hosting the Boulder Writers’ Club.

When I met Paul in 1994, I found out right away that he was a serious Star Trek and Shakespeare fan. (You may know that many Star Trek actors started out as Shakespeare thespians.) But I found it hard to follow the language in Shakespeare plays and movies. We came up with a brilliant way for me to overcome that barrier – we started watching classic Shakespeare films with the subtitles on. After a few years I was able to go to a Shakespeare festival and actually understand what they were saying.

Eventually this led to my quilt in the Washington DC project, depicting the inside of the Folger Shakespeare Library, which sits right behind the Supreme Court.

For many years, when I attended the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham UK, I would go to Stratford Upon Avon to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, to see an authentic but creatively diverse version of the repertoire. Often the stage actors are people we’ve seen in British films or BBC series. The RSC play I remember the most was when I was in the front row for The Tempest, and they had a tank full of water at the front of the stage. The play started with an actor bursting out of the water (from the shipwreck) and splashing on my feet. I love sitting in the front row!

You can see some of my photos from the English countryside and UK museums on these pages.

Sharing your passion for fabrics….
Luana and Paul

Subscribe to my artist blog here.

Travel/Lecture Dates:
Apr 26 – May 1 – Alegre Retreat, Gateway CO
May 16 – New England Quilt Museum, Soul Stories Artist Reception
May 18-26 – Montpellier, France
June 4-5 – Featured Speaker – World Environment Day – Houston
July 28 – Aug 2 – Festival of Quilts – Birmingham UK
Nov 12-15 – Intl Quilt Festival – Houston



Visit eQuilter’s Instagram and Pinterest pages for Color and Design ideas.

See Luana’s Artist Blog, Flickr Photo Pages for travel images, comment on our blog, or follow us on Facebook.

Check out our Video pages for interviews and show reviews.

This week I bring you another standout quilt from last month’s event – QuiltCon. This group quilt, simply named “Hilma”, was created by the members of Beesewcial (pronounced Be-Social….get it?) in Denver Colorado.

The 8 participants made improv blocks that were curated into a cohesive design by the bee leader that month. The organic designs were overlaid by bold black inset and applique squiggles that flow into the colors.

Techniques used: Machine pieced, improvisational piecing, hand applique and machine quilted.
100% cotton solids and silk batting.

Denver Metro Modern Quilt Group:
Stephanie Ruyle, Leanne Chahley, Debbie Jeske, Karen Foster, Felicity Ronaghan, MR Charbonneau, Marci Debetaz and Kari Barber.

I invite you to find out a little more about the group’s inspiration: Hilma af Klint. (1862 – 1944)

She was a Swedish abstract artist ahead of her time. In fact she was secretly making abstract art before it had a name, and is considered to be among the first major abstract artists in Western art history. She left her 1200 paintings to her nephew, but stipulated they were not to be seen until 20 years after her death.

Af Klint’s work is set in a wider context of the modernist movement, inspired by the paranormal, spiritual, political, geometric and scientific systems in the early 20th century. She used grids, circles, and petal-like forms, sometimes biomorphic. Her colors were symbolic, and she often used spirals in her compositions.

In the last few years her work has been shown at the Guggenheim and MOMA in New York, and the Tate Modern in London. Modern quilters will find much inspiration in the paintings of Hilma af Klint.

Sharing your passion for fabric…
Luana & Paul

Subscribe to my artist website and blog!
www.luanarubin.com

Travel/Lecture Dates:
Apr 26 – May 1 – Alegre Retreat, Gateway CO
May 16 – New England Quilt Museum, Soul Stories Artist Reception
May 18-26 – Montpellier, France
June 5 – Featured Speaker – World Environment Day – Houston
July 28 – Aug 2 – Festival of Quilts – Birmingham UK
Nov 12-15 – Intl Quilt Festival – Houston

Visit eQuilter’s Instagram, Pinterest or TikTok pages for Color and Design ideas.

See Luana’s Flickr Photo Pages for travel images, comment on our blog, or follow us on Facebook.

Check out our Video pages for interviews and show reviews.

It is always fun when textile friends around the world let you know that your work was shown or mentioned. I got a text from a curator friend today, that my “Enslaved People of Mount Vernon” quilt was in a presentation at a textile museum conference in North Carolina this weekend. (Thanks Alicia and Alden!)

Based on my genealogy research, I had 18th century ancestors in NC, so it is always possible the textiles they study were made in my ancestors’ community. I find the older I become, the more my quilt interests intersect with my genealogy work. But then, many of you know that already!

This brings me to the topic of labels again. I urge all of you to put detailed labels on the backs of your quilts. Lately I’ve been adding some labels to detail the places my art quilts have been exhibited. I know that will be of interest to someone in the future. I have been to AQSG seminars twice now, and I’ve caught the bug. After seeing hundreds of women intensely combing through provenance on one quilt or one historic textile item, I understand how important it is for us to document our work on the piece itself, for those who come after us.

You will notice that we just got in next year’s Hoffman Challenge fabrics.

I shipped off my Hoffman Challenge quilt for judging this week, and I am finishing another larger piece for the Soul Stories Part 2 exhibit that will be in Houston this Fall. I hope you have enjoyed the first weekend of Spring, and are having a productive month.

Sharing your passion for fabrics….
Luana and Paul

Subscribe to my artist blog here.

Travel/Lecture Dates:
Apr 26 – May 1 – Alegre Retreat, Gateway CO
May 16 – New England Quilt Museum, Soul Stories Artist Reception
May 18-26 – Montpellier, France
June 4-5 – Featured Speaker – World Environment Day – Houston
July 28 – Aug 2 – Festival of Quilts – Birmingham UK
Nov 12-15 – Intl Quilt Festival – Houston

Visit eQuilter’s Instagram and Pinterest pages for Color and Design ideas.

See Luana’s Artist Blog, Flickr Photo Pages for travel images, comment on our blog, or follow us on Facebook.

Check out our Video pages for interviews and show reviews.

We are a family of readers, sci-fi geeks, and fantasy nerds. Thankfully all 3 of our kids grew up to be readers (and writers) as well. We love Star Wars and Star Trek, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. Dragons, Magic Trees, and the music of John Williams…stretching across so many genres! My alarm that wakes me up in the morning is the theme song from Indiana Jones. I personally love having adventures abroad, to visit medieval castles, historic sites, and rainforests dripping with moss. Fairies and elves live there.

I’ve been going to ComicCon and Starfest for 20 years, photographing costume contests before it was named ‘cosplay’ and became cool. My favorite experience was the Klingon costume workshop: the teacher was a 6′ 6″ guy in full Klingon attire (wig, prosthetics, armor, and platform boots) hunched over a tiny sewing machine. Our kids all have fantasy costumes and I have some period costumes purchased at the Renaissance Faire long ago. And there are some fairy-floral-antler headpieces and a tiara or two. I started sewing my own costumes as a teenager, and our kids all grew up with costume options at Halloween and beyond.

For many years I was the keynote trend speaker at the Las Vegas textile show. Back then there was a Star Trek Experience at the original “Elvis” Hilton Hotel. I have a buddy from the fabric industry who is also a Trekkie, and we would always go to this Trek museum, and then have dinner at Quark’s Cafe. Ah, those were the days….

So for those of you who also love to escape from reality at times….in a book, a movie, or on a trip…I’d like to share this new exclusive design…the Stonehenge Dragon. Isn’t he gorgeous?

Sharing your passion for fabric…
Luana & Paul

Subscribe to my artist website and blog!
www.luanarubin.com

Travel/Lecture Dates:
Apr 26 – May 1 – Alegre Retreat, Gateway CO
May 16 – New England Quilt Museum, Soul Stories Artist Reception
May 18-26 – Montpellier, France
June 5 – Featured Speaker – World Environment Day – Houston
July 28 – Aug 2 – Festival of Quilts – Birmingham UK
Nov 12-15 – Intl Quilt Festival – Houston

Visit eQuilter’s Instagram, Pinterest or TikTok pages for Color and Design ideas.

See Luana’s Flickr Photo Pages for travel images, comment on our blog, or follow us on Facebook.

Check out our Video pages for interviews and show reviews.